Today In NFL History

For personal reason reasons, I remember this day in NFL history.

At a press conference held by the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film company in Markyate, England, Cleveland Brown fullback Jim Brown announced his retirement from professional football. The decision was final. Brown pursued an acting care.

Brown had one more year left on his contract, but filming for “The Dirty Dozen” bogged down. Art Modell, owner of the Cleveland Browns, wanted Brown back at training camp in Hiram, Ohio. There were rules, and Brown felt he was letting the team down. The added problem was the Browns needing to prepare for the season without him, at least initially. He felt the right thing to do was retire.

I remember this. I still live about four miles from the Hiram summer training camp. In ’65, after the season started, I would have been turning 13. With friends, we would ride our bikes to Hiram, only four miles away.

I had at least 40, maybe 50, autographs from Brown. After practice, you could go on the field and mingle with the players as they left the field. They would all sign. It was before the union and limitations on signing autographs. People like Brown, Lou Groza, Frank Ryan, and Gary Collins were recognizable and sought after. The players were friendly about it.

I don’t believe all of the players stayed in dorms because one player, driving to practice, aided in the rescue of two people drowning in a river in my town that had flooded the roadway. Quarterback Bill Nelson picked me up hitchhiking one time. Hiram remains a small college town, so there is little to do–a few dated college students and locals.

I wish I had those autographs today. The Dirty Dozen was a good movie. It allowed Brown to retire at the top of his game, which doesn’t always happen for athletes. Bill Nelson lectured me about hitchhiking –not the dangers of it, but because he felt I should be jogging the four miles.

Brown died in 2023 at the age of 87. The legacy he leaves is being the best running back in NFL history, his movies, and his being a social activist.

While I’m not always a big fan of social activism, there are exceptions in his case I agree with. Given an opportunity, he didn’t attack Trump. Brown also consistently stated that he would never kneel during the anthem because he believed the flag should be respected, and it’s not why people come to football games. His thoughts on addressing issues were to do it intelligently within a proper framework.